He heard something rip, then felt her panties in his hand. A moment later, he felt her fingers on his shaft and he lost more brain cells. He barely had the sense to grab a condom and protect himself before he lifted her up again and slowly lowered her down onto his erection, using the wall as leverage.
He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the feeling of her body expanding and accepting him, he was amazed at how hot, wet, and amazing she felt. Her mouth open, eyes closed, she arched her back, pressing against him. For a long, perfect moment, he just paused, enjoying the moment of her body tight around him. But that moment was short and he started thrusting, moving against her hard and fast, his hands grasping her bottom as he thrust again and again!
Too soon, he felt her shudder out a release, her cries urging him on. Vaguely, he sensed her climaxing again, but he was too focused on his own orgasm, his body thrusting into hers. It felt as if his soul was leaving him. It was pure pleasure at its most carnal.
When it was all over, he opened his eyes and looked down at her, shocked that he’d taken her so aggressively. But when she opened her eyes, her swollen lips curled upwards and he felt her fingers in his hair.
“Wow!” she whispered, as she leaned forward to kiss his jaw lightly.
Mike laughed softly, shaking his head a bit in order to try and clear things. “Are you okay?”
He was looking up at the ceiling, enjoying the aftermath too much to move. But the soft chuckle brought his eyes down to look at her and what he saw almost made his body harden again.
“Yeah. I’m good now.”
He grumbled something inarticulate, then shifted, pulling out and carefully lowering her feet to the floor. “What’s so funny?”
Lexie continued to lean against the wall, smiling up at him. “I’m not really sure,” she admitted. “I’m just really happy to see you.”
He braced his hands on the wall beside her head, then leaned down to kiss her lingeringly. “You’re so beautiful,” he told her, and meant it with every part of him. Her eyes were all sexy and soft, her lips swollen from his kisses and there was a soft glow about her. Had that glow been there before she’d walked into his house?
“You’re just horny,” she teased, sliding her hand up his chest and she lifted up to kiss him again. “I like it.”
He smelled something burning and looked out through the sliding glass doors to his backyard. “Damn!” he muttered. “I think our dinner just burned.”
Lexie smiled as she followed him out the door. “What was on the menu?” she asked as they both surveyed the two black blobs.
“It was chicken,” he admitted.
“Hmm…well, that’s…disappointing.” She grinned, a sparkle in her eyes. “This doesn’t count as one of the dinners you owe me.”
He swung around, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into his arms. “I’m claiming foul play!”
She laughed, wrapping her arms around him, loving this playful side of him. “Foul play? How’s that?”
“You showed up, looking all cute and sexy in that tiny little dress,” he said, holding her with one arm under her bottom as his other hand slid down her bare leg. “That’s cheating.”
“Oh no you don’t!” she said, squirming as she giggled. “You didn’t even see my dress before you had me pinned against the wall! So you can’t blame that charred mess on me!”
“I’m bigger and stronger than you are, Lex.”
“And that’s relevant how?”
“I win.”
She grinned. “Oh, so brute strength wins over intelligence? Is that what you’re saying now?”
He set her down on the kitchen table, and leaned over her, forcing her to lean back. “Are you saying I’m stupid?’
She giggled helplessly. “You’re the one who can’t cook chicken!”
He laughed and kissed her again. “I’ll make more chicken. It shouldn’t be too long once I get them pounded out flat.”
As she followed him into the kitchen, she felt a draft along her backside. “Um…Mike?”
He spun around at the note of panic in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
Lexie stood by the table, holding the short, flirty dress down over her thighs. “Um…I need to just…run home for a moment.”
His eyes skimmed down over her legs. “Did you forget something?”
Lexie laughed, self-consciously. “Nope. No, I didn’t forget anything.” She scooped up the scrap of red satin. “You…uh…sort of destroyed my underwear.”
It took him a long moment before he understood, but then his smile grew. “Sorry about that.” He kissed her neck, nuzzling that spot right under her ear.
Lexie playfully punched his shoulder, only putting a half-hearted effort into avoiding his lips. “You’re not sorry in the least, Mike.”
His laugh was low and grumbly. “You’re right. There is zero remorse in my heart.” He lifted his head. “In fact, I think it’s hot!”
He led her back into the kitchen. “Here,” he handed her a mallet. “Pretend the chicken breast is my head and flatten it out.” He put a silicon matt over the chicken and nodded. “Go at it.”
Lexie pounded out the chicken gently at first, but once she was sure the silicon covering wasn’t going to break, she put a little more energy into the task. In no time at all, the chicken breast was perfectly thin.
“Good job,” Mike said, and stabbed the breast with a fork, placing another down on the mat for her to pound out. “Do it again while I season this one.”
Lexie went at it, feeling really good, if a bit awkward without underwear. Mike was back in town and he still wanted her. That was good news! Yes, she knew their affair would end. There were too many secrets between them, including her own secret, for them to have an open and honest relationship. But she was going to enjoy it for as long as she could.
He tossed both breasts onto the grill while she brought the salad and potatoes out to his backyard. She set everything up on his small table and, when the chicken was done – perfectly this time – they sat outside and sipped ice tea while dining on delicious, tender chicken with a healthy salad and creamy potatoes.
Afterwards, she smiled when he pulled her onto the couch to watch a movie. But as the ending credits rolled, Lexie felt his hands on her, sliding over her skin and the whirlwind started over again.
Chapter 12
Lexie crawled out of bed before the sun came up, slipping her dress back on, trying to be as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to wake Mike, but she had a story idea and really wanted to work on incorporating it into her current storyline.
She’d just picked up her purse and dug out her keys when Mike stepped through the door, yawning and rubbing a hand over his face. He’d pulled on a pair of shorts that looked awesome, revealing his chest and stomach muscles to her delectation.
“Where are you going? It’s not even five o’clock in the morning.”
Lexie froze, not sure what to say. “Um…well, I have to do something.”
He walked over to her, taking her hand. “You don’t need to leave this early. And work can wait until later.”
Lexie pulled back, shaking her head. “Mike, I have something I need to do. I’ll see you on base later.”
She pulled her hand out of his hand and stuffed her feet into her sandals.
“Lexie, what the hell do you need to do at,” he glanced at the wall clock, “four twenty-five in the morning?”
Lexie sighed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “It’s personal. Just…leave it at that, okay?”
He glared at her, irritated by her non-answer. “What personal?”
She stiffened at his demand, then turned slowly to glare up at him. “Where have you been for the past few days?”
Immediately, his arms crossed over his chest, his muscles bulging. The motion was defensive, revealing his frustration at her non-answer. “You know I can’t tell you where I go.”
She tilted her head. “I do. So, perhaps you can understand th
at I also have secrets?”
“What the hell? Are you just…are you trying to keep secrets from me because I can’t tell you what I do when I’m gone?”
She smiled gently, shaking her head. “No. Not at all. My need for secrecy has nothing to do with national security. But I have my reasons, Mike. I have to go. I’m sorry.” She hurried down the stairs to her car. Thankfully, it started on the first try and she was able to back out of the parking space and head over to her own apartment.
As soon as she walked in, Lexie pulled on a pair of panties. Feeling better, she picked up her laptop and snuggled up on her bed with her pillows pushed behind her back. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, typing out the scene in her mind. It was almost seven o’clock by the time she finished the scene and, by then, Lexie knew that she’d have to hurry to shower, dress, and drive over to the base so that she’d make it to work on time. But having gotten that scene written, she felt really good.
She dumped her bag into her desk drawer about five minutes before eight o’clock and smiled with success before pulling the stack of files closer to start working.
It was perhaps three hours later when she felt something strange. Looking up, she glanced around and…her eyes collided with Mike’s furious glare as he stepped through the door. Walking towards the conference room, he pulled his eyes away from her without even a greeting.
Hurt, Lexie turned back to her stack of tasks, but her focus was shot. He was angry with her and that wasn’t fair! She hadn’t done anything wrong!
By lunch, she was still upset. Lexie grabbed her sandwich and stalked out of the warehouse, smiling politely at the other soldiers who greeted her. Lexie slipped behind the building and headed down a path where she’d discovered a small creek surrounded by trees. It was a nice, quiet spot and she enjoyed the springtime breeze as it toyed with wisps of hair, tickling her neck. But she was so upset about Mike that she wasn’t really in the mood to eat. So she tore off pieces of the bread and fed it to the fish that swam by in the creek, and nibbled halfheartedly at her apple.
She went back inside before her lunch break was over, wanting to get more work done, but her heart wasn’t in it. As Lexie left the warehouse that evening, her eyes skimmed over the guys that were returning from the training fields, but Mike wasn’t among them. She hadn’t seen him except for that one moment right before lunch and…she was hurt.
She’d just walked into her apartment and flipped off her shoes when she heard the knock on the door. Before she opened it, Lexie was sure that it was Mike.
Sure enough, as soon as she opened the door, he stepped into her apartment looking freshly showered and sexy, his hair still wet and wearing soft, well-worn jeans and a tee shirt that had to stretch over his shoulders.
Keeping her hands to herself, Lexie leaned back against the door and watched him pace across her living room with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting for him to say whatever it was that he wanted to say.
“Lexie, I don’t like that you have secrets from me.”
Lexie blinked, waiting for him to continue. But when she realized that he was finished, she straightened up and came closer. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Why?”
“You have so many secrets, I don’t even know where to start!”
Mike ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. “I’m not allowed to talk about the things that I do. You know that.”
“So?” she demanded, huffing a bit. “What I was doing this morning was my job.”
His eyes flared with anger and he leaned forward slightly. “Your job is working with the team! It’s helping people with ordering and getting things ready for us! You’re the support staff! Are you seriously going to tell me that you left my bed this morning in order to do something for the team?”
She pressed her lips together for a long moment, trying to figure out how best to answer him. “Nope. What I left your bed to do had nothing to do with the teams. I told you this morning, it was a personal issue.”
He glared down at her. “Lexie, I don’t think that we can get more intimate with each other. And yet, you’re telling me that you won’t tell me what’s going on in your life?”
When he put it like that, she felt a bit…still, she couldn’t tell him what was going on. She’d kept this secret close to her heart for too long and it was an ingrained habit. Plus, he’d probably laugh at her if he ever found out what she did in her own time. Romance novels weren’t…men simply didn’t understand them! They didn’t get why women needed them so much! Mike might have defended her at the bar that night so long ago, but he hadn’t defended the book. He’d defended her. There was a difference.
Plus, there was a bit of stubbornness going on about it now and she didn’t like it.
Shifting her shoulders, she glared up at him. “So, you’re basically saying you don’t trust me?”
He ran a hand through his short hair impatiently. “Yes! No! I trust you! So, why won’t you trust me?”
Because he might make fun of her, she thought. And that was startling. “I just…,” she stammered, not sure what to say. “Mike, please. This is really important to me.”
He paused, looking at her with an intensity that terrified her. “It’s important to me too.” And with that, he left her apartment.
Chapter 13
Lexie dragged herself out of bed the following morning, not sure what day it was, and not really caring. It was the first night she’d spent alone except for the nights when Mike was on a mission. But because she’d been afraid to trust him, she hadn’t gone after him last night to tell him about her secret passion.
She walked into the warehouse that morning, feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of seeing him. But although the teams came and went, she didn’t see Mike. The other men talked about him, and they weren’t complimentary. In fact, some of them were wondering what was going on with him, wondering why he was being such “a hardass” today.
Apparently, Mike was as out of sorts as she was.
Still, Lexie didn’t feel as if she could go to Mike and explain. She remembered that night in the bar, remembered how Mike had defended her from the guy who laughed at her book. And yet, Lexie couldn’t explain what she did in her off time. She couldn’t tell him that she wove sexy, funny stories that she hoped would eventually allow her to write full time. She couldn’t tell him that she’d already written one book that had been published and was selling, slowly, but still selling as more and more readers spread the word about her story. It was as if she had a secret identity.
Mike slammed through the door to his apartment, furious and exhausted. And sore. Damn it, that idiot private this morning had almost killed himself when he’d gone over the net on the obstacle course earlier today. If Mike hadn’t been there to pull him back, the fool would have fallen forty feet to the ground.
Rotating his arm, he tried to work the kinks out of the muscles. A hot shower helped, but that wasn’t the only ache that he was feeling.
Was he being unfair about Lexie’s secret? If he knew what was going on, maybe he wouldn’t need to…okay, that was ridiculous. If he knew her secret, he wouldn’t need to know her secret? Nope, that didn’t even make sense to himself. So no way could he drive over to her place and tell her that. She’d laugh herself silly. And then she’d tell him to go to hell, which was essentially what she’d done earlier this morning when she’d walked out.
Trust. Right! Trust had to go both ways! She didn’t trust him to protect her secret. And he didn’t trust her to…to what? To keep her secret? Mike poured himself a glass of iced tea and drank it down, trying to cool his temper as well as his body.
Still, he fumed, not sure why she wouldn’t tell him.
Chapter 14
Mike stood outside Lexie’s door, contemplating what to say. Bracing his arms wide against the doorframe, he considered his words, wondering how they could figure this out.
Before he could complete the thought, the door opened and there
she was! For a long moment, she just stood there, staring at him. His hungry gaze moved over her face, wishing that he could…that she would…Damn it!
“Lexie!” he groaned, stepping into the tiny apartment and closing the door. She backed up a step, but he shook his head. “No, we’re not doing that, Lex,” and he pulled her into his arms. She resisted for a moment, then melted into him and Mike closed his eyes, tightening his arms around her as he leaned back against the door. “We’re going to figure this out, Lex.”
Her arms crept around his waist and he could feel her hesitation. “I know that you love me, Lex,” he began. Again, she stiffened, but this time, she didn’t pull away. In fact, she pressed her face against his chest. “You can’t hide from it. I love you too.”
That got her attention and she jerked away. “No, you don’t!” she snapped.
He let her go, but only because they needed to talk. If he continued to hold her, they might get distracted.
“Lexie, I love you. I’ve loved you for a while now, I just didn’t realize it because…” he ran a hand over the top of his head. “Because I’m an idiot.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him. “Well, at least there’s one thing we can agree on,” she muttered.
He laughed, but the amusement quickly faded. “Honey, we need to work this out. The trust…I know that…” he stopped, not sure what to say. “I know that you aren’t a spy. I know that you’re hiding something from me, but what I don’t understand is why.” He moved closer, taking her hands. “I don’t believe that you’re in trouble, Lex. So, what is it that you’re hiding from me?”
Lexie looked up at him and her heart ached. It had been a whole week and her body literally ached because she hadn’t slept with him, hadn’t had his arms around her while she cooked or read or slept or…anything! She needed him! She needed his touch and his teasing and his laughter. She needed his arms around her and she needed…all of him!
Mike (Delta Forces Book 1) Page 6
